FashBlog.com

By Brandi M. Seals

Crocs
I am sure that by now almost everyone has seen the latest monstrosity to hit the shoe world - crocs. That is right - crocs. For those of you who do not know, crocs are some kind of hideous cross between clogs and some sort of plastic or resin. Think jelly shoes only much, much worse.

I do not know when or where these things got their start but I first noticed them while watching Iron Chef America. If you ever get a chance to see Mario Batali, take a moment and have a looked at his feet. You will see a strange orange glow coming from his feet. The source of the orange glow is a pair of bright orange crocs.

My husband and I used to make fun of Mario every time he came on the show. Then one day we were at a drive-in theatre in Arkansas the craziest thing happened, little kids everywhere suddenly had the atrocious shoes on.

I shop quite regularly. You would think I would have noticed the horrible little shoes creeping into the market but I didn't and the next thing I knew they were everywhere. Go to your local shoe store, you will probably see a pair or two in there.

Apparently they are a hot item for a lot of kids. Crocs come in several hideous colors. There are over 20 colors of crocs to choose from. There are colors like pink for little girls, sea blue for guys, gold for grandma, and a strange shade named butter that I guess are designed for dairy farmers.

Be aware that if you decide to buy a pair of crocs, they will end up in the back of your closet after a few wears. People openly gawk at anyone that dares to actually wear a pair in public. Plus the constant sounds of snickering just behind you will be a dead giveaway that the shoes may not have been the best choice.

The Puffy Shirt
Just before summer started I saw a peculiar thing in my local JCPenney. It was the puffy shirt. Right there in the midst of all the business attire there stood an unshopped sales rack full of the pirate inspired apparel. I must admit at one time I owned a puffy shirt. I was in 6th or 7th grade and it was the early '90s. Back then they were sort of cool, now that I am a grown up I realize how stupid it is to have a giant puff of frilly material surrounding my neck and the cuffs of the shirt. I guess Penney's tried to sneak this oldie but goodie back in the closets of American women. Luckily this time women wised up and refused to purchase the ugly things.

The Oversized Shirt
Why is it that no one knows what size shirt to buy? I see men and women everywhere enveloped in mounds of extra material from their tee shirts. Do they think they are hiding extra flesh under the shirts? If anything they are making themselves look much larger then they actually are.

My husband was a victim of the oversized shirt. When I met him in 2003 he thought he wore a size XL. He was wrong. At 6'2" and maybe 165 pounds he was about a hundred pounds shy of needing that XL.

He said he liked his shirts like that and needed the length that came with the XL size. That Christmas I bought him a couple of shirts. Some were tee shirts, others were polos. None were an XL. In fact, they were all mediums. And guess what - they were long enough. It took him awhile to get used to not being surrounded by a tent of material but now he has finally learned that he wears a small or medium in shirts.

I do not know how it started or when it started, but at some point a large chunk of society began hiding in their clothes. If you are one of those people that practically swim in your clothing, why not do yourself a favor and try on a few different sizes before deciding what to buy. A closer fitting shirt will actually make you appear slimmer since there is no added bulk around problem areas.